Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

Multiple Works in Progress

How many of you have multiple works in progress? Are they all the same genre? How do you divide your time between them?

Currently, I have 4 WIP's.... sounds like alot huh? Right now I am thinking that too! As my second book just went back to my publisher for the formatting (after 13 hours of editing, my eyes are still crossed) I find myself looking at all the projects I have in the works.

One project is about half way through - but I had come up with a snag in the plot and I got frustrated so I put it on the back burner. Recently, as I find myself mulling over the issue, I think I found the way to work through my snag... but.... There is a more recent project that I started that I was working hard on. As soon as I figured out how to work through the other issue, I lost my train of thought on the new one.

Then there is the other book that I am working on with another author. Now that one is a huge project that will be in the making for a long time, but we are throwing ideas back and forth and running plot ideas and twists back and forth.

Then there is book 3 of my series (the second book is about to be published). After reading book 2 - and coming back to those characters I find myself running that plot hard and heavy in my mind. Conversations and characters building....

I'm at a loss right now as to exactly what I should be working on. I think I have so many things in the works that I am befuddled as to which one to go to next.

Anyone else get themselves in this situations? How do you work through them?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Amy Manemann on October 23, 2011 at 2:09pm

I'm like Stacy, I check it once in the morning and once at night too and mark down how many I've sold each time I check and what my ranking is on Amazon so I can keep track.

Permalink Reply by Borislava Borissova on October 23, 2011 at 3:15pm

Hi Steve and all other pals!

Behind my question there is a simple fact, I had four reviews in April, May this year and noticed after them considerable change in my raiting on amazon.com. It was raising all month. But at the end of July I received the cheque from my publisher for first six months of the year and it was about 10 $. The publisher insisted I had not sales with amazon and that is why my royalties were too little. How could I check it up? I could not but this is one of the reasons I consider to publish my next book with amazon.com because I would like to see what happens with my sales after all. I work very hard to promote my books instead of writing a new one and at length I am not sure if there is a result of all my efforts or not.

About the chat Catherine and me participated, we both consider to have another one because it deserved all our preparation. I even think to invite all you, my fellow-writers from here and perhaps we all could make what is called "Latte Longe". It is when five and more than five authors participate in a chat online under one and the same topic, typical for their books. We with Catherine prepared for another kind of a chat, "e-loop chat" to see how it works, how we could deal with it and we chose "love" as a common theme for our books. It was an wonderful experience, we had questions from readers online and a week after it I opened amazon.com and saw I had one paperback sale of "Affairs of The Heart" in Nevada and about "The Starlight Prince", its Kindle sales-draft on amazon "Sales Info" is "UP" for first time for last two months. It is rasining a day by a day for more than a week up to now. I still have not spoken with Caherine about her statistics on the matter but I would like to share with you my situation now and why I ask some questions. Obviously being a writer means to have much to learn, much more than only to put a story on white paper.

I received by admins of the site a very polite letter that Catherine and me did everything very well and a new invitation to point out a new chat-date in the next months. I think the end of November or the beginning of December will be a good period for a new chat to catch up with sales season during Christmas times and perhaps being a group at Latte Longe we could make it much more interesting with different opinions on a common for our stories theme.

Steve Norris said:

I check my sales daily, bit of a sad obsession so I always know if people have been buying.

I gave out a lot of leaflets so I'm hoping they will read them later and note the website and links from there. As I'm signing in Waterstones I can't use Amazon links on the leaflet. But everyone knows that you can often find stuff cheaper on the net. Sadly my book is £8.99 where ever you go.

Anyway in answer to your question, if you rise up the charts then people are buying your book. Mine hasn't moved so far today.

Well done for doing the session with Catherine, such a great idea and obviously worked

Borislava Borissova said:

It is nice news, Steve!

By The Way, I saw after the chat at Coffee Time Romance that amazon.com gave up to my books on the Sales Info. Does it mean there are sales for them? If my publisher says there are not sales (actually I do not ask him, just hypothesis) how could I understand why my books are up?

Do you check amazon.com Sales Info for more sales after your promotion at the store in Bury? Some people could order your book later, on the next day etc. after some time for consideration to buy or not.

Steve Norris said:

Interesting debate Stacy and Borislava. Can't agree more, it is really something you have to work at to get attention. And a good point about review blogs. You need to make sure people see it.

By the way, sold 7 books today in Bury. Not bad for a small store which seemed quiet today. Booked another session for December when the store will be full of people looking for Christmas gifts.

Permalink Reply by Steve Norris on October 23, 2011 at 3:22pm

Borislava I think I share some of your confusion over the way that Amazon works, how often the stats are updated and what they are based on. It's not always clear but it makes no sense for you to rise up the charts if you dont have increased sales. Other people not selling shouldnt make that much of a difference. If your publisher is adamant that sales are not occurring then ask Amazon to explain. They should be able to help. (and then you can tell us lol)

Stacy I'm glad to see sales are good. Amazon sales have been a bit slow lately. Although I have sold some hard copies in the US amazingly. I've got $50 dollars of free advertising on linked in but my first campaign hasn't resulted in any new hits. I will try a new tactic this week to see if i can get something going.

Permalink Reply by Borislava Borissova on October 23, 2011 at 3:31pm

Oh, Steve, I asked amazon immediately and they said to me the information in figures is given only to the publisher so I must ask him. Unfortunately they could not help.

Steve Norris said:

Borislava I think I share some of your confusion over the way that Amazon works, how often the stats are updated and what they are based on. It's not always clear but it makes no sense for you to rise up the charts if you dont have increased sales. Other people not selling shouldnt make that much of a difference. If your publisher is adamant that sales are not occurring then ask Amazon to explain. They should be able to help. (and then you can tell us lol)

Stacy I'm glad to see sales are good. Amazon sales have been a bit slow lately. Although I have sold some hard copies in the US amazingly. I've got $50 dollars of free advertising on linked in but my first campaign hasn't resulted in any new hits. I will try a new tactic this week to see if i can get something going.

Permalink Reply by Borislava Borissova on October 23, 2011 at 11:05pm

I also found:

http://www.romancing-the-book.com

http://indiesnippets.blogspot.com

http://afstewartpromotion.blogspot.com

and I hope they are good places for book's promotion.

Permalink Reply by Robert L. Allen on October 24, 2011 at 2:06am

I agree. I think sex can be written in a clean manner and can still be extremely sexy. In romance book not only are the titles the same so are the sex scenes and the lanuage used. I think writers should strive to be different. Use different wording, use different scenery and by all means go beyond the boundaries. Perhaps I will try a paranornal someday. I think writing in that genre would be fun, but I would want to write something different than what's already been written. I try to write my mysteries different than what's out there...

Catherine Green said:

Personally I like to read stories that push the boundaries when it comes to sex and relationships. It seems to me that it isn't so much the act of sex that causes controversy amongst people, rather the fact that it is still viewed as something 'bad' that must be hidden away, even in these supposedly liberated times. I think that's partly why I am drawn to the paranormal genre, because that's where I can get my fix so to speak! And of course, why I write it.

Permalink Reply by Robert L. Allen on October 24, 2011 at 2:49am

Hi Borislava,

Not that I know all the publishers, but I don't recognize The Starlight Prince. So I'm thinking it might be a self publisher. I was self-employed for 16 years. I was a Drywall Taper. I loved to tape. But being self-employed, I had to seek work. It was a 24/7 job. I believe when a writer agrees to self publish, the writer must promote the book. I don't think the publisher is obligated to do anything other than what is in the contract. I realize the enternet is a wonderful place to start, but it is not the only place to sell a book. Sometimes the writer has to get out there and do some foot work. Get known. Adjust to the times. Don't get stuck. When you're driving and get stuck in the snow or mud, somehow you figure out a way to get unstuck and I know you will with your book...But don't give up, keep trying...

Borislava Borissova said:

Hi to all!

I am also interested in your opinion about promotions on blogs. Recently it seems they are overloaded with queries for reviews more than ever and are hardly touchable as much as the big publishers. What is your experience? Do you think these reviews are overestimated and they don't sell your books anymore nor are trustworthy for your writing skills?

Here is a bit of what I think:
When I published my first book 'The Starlight Prince" two-three years ago the situation was different. The review or article about it stayed on the surface of their blogs for a few days in the purpose as many as readers could see it. I had increased traffic to my personal web-site, some sales even even two emails from readers, who liked it.

Now it my second published book "Affairs of The Heart" I find the situation for the authors unpleasant. If a review is posted, it stayed for few hours only before it to be displaced by another topic so no more than too few people could read about your story and heroes. As you guess readers have other work and don't stay into any blog to read it all day.

The other worse thing is that the big-bloggers /with many followers/ don't answer to queries as in the past. Many of them are touchable by big publishers only and you quickly could guess about it seeing they publish reviews of best-sellers mostly.

What I can say is that the marketing and promotions of our books are not the same as in the past and there should be found new good channels to do it.

Permalink Reply by Robert L. Allen on October 24, 2011 at 3:23am

I feel guilty when I don't write everyday, perhaps not guilty but uncomfortable. It's hard to get going if I take time off. However, I didn't write yesterday and today I added another few hundred words tot he story. Which was fun. Glad you're here. Come again...

Lyn Miller Lacoursiere said:

Hello Stacy; I'm a writer of fiction and sometimes when i have more than one thing going I feel like a "mother hen" sitting on a nest of restless rattlers trying to get out and I don't know who to uncover first. Its frustrationg. When I've gotten myelf into this kind of situation, for me, its time I need to take a break. Get away from the desk and computer. Go away and change the scene. I find that after a day or two, one or two of my works will look inviting again. Sometimes a clear picture will saunter through my thoughts just as I am enjoying a romp in the sun!

Hang in there!

Lyn

http://www.mystery-novels-lynmillerlacoursiere.com

Permalink Reply by Robert L. Allen on October 24, 2011 at 3:44am

Good work Steve, hope you sell more...

Steve Norris said:

Interesting debate Stacy and Borislava. Can't agree more, it is really something you have to work at to get attention. And a good point about review blogs. You need to make sure people see it.

By the way, sold 7 books today in Bury. Not bad for a small store which seemed quiet today. Booked another session for December when the store will be full of people looking for Christmas gifts.

Permalink Reply by Robert L. Allen on October 24, 2011 at 3:51am

So how do you get paid? Sorry for being nosy...

Amy Manemann said:

I'm like Stacy, I check it once in the morning and once at night too and mark down how many I've sold each time I check and what my ranking is on Amazon so I can keep track.

Permalink Reply by Stacy Eaton on October 24, 2011 at 4:43am

Robert - I think Amy is talking about checking stats on Amazon kindle. I honestly forget how often they pay us - I just know it goes right into our back accounts.

Permalink Reply by Borislava Borissova on October 24, 2011 at 8:45am

Hi Robert!

Yes, I know I have a small publisher, not a big one who could offer me a large scale of marketing tips and promotions. I do something every day to make my books noticed, make interviews for bloggers, write queries to ask for reviews, prepare a book's trailer, participate in a online-chat, have organized a big premiere in my city and more than 150 people came /I post many photos on my web-site/, ordered pocket-size calendars for 2012 with the cover of the book /fortunatelly 1000 copies cost only 10 $/, keep the web-site updating etc. It seems to me all this energy and time I would put in writing my next book if I have a good professional in book's marketing but I have not. Of course, this leads me to sad thoughts like that: "to write or not to write"; "to start a new book or not" because I overcame tremendous obstacles and put enormous efforts and at finally all appears in vain because the road to readers is more difficult than the road of writing.

Thank you for the courage you give to me, I need it, indeed! For now I consider to complete the editing of my third book and to try as a self-published author with it. I hope to have a bit of luck this time.

Robert L. Allen said:

Hi Borislava,

Not that I know all the publishers, but I don't recognize The Starlight Prince. So I'm thinking it might be a self publisher. I was self-employed for 16 years. I was a Drywall Taper. I loved to tape. But being self-employed, I had to seek work. It was a 24/7 job. I believe when a writer agrees to self publish, the writer must promote the book. I don't think the publisher is obligated to do anything other than what is in the contract. I realize the enternet is a wonderful place to start, but it is not the only place to sell a book. Sometimes the writer has to get out there and do some foot work. Get known. Adjust to the times. Don't get stuck. When you're driving and get stuck in the snow or mud, somehow you figure out a way to get unstuck and I know you will with your book...But don't give up, keep trying...